British journalist ordered out of Israel
An Israeli court today ordered a British journalist with links to a pro-Palestinian group to leave the country, citing security concerns.
Ewa Jasiewicz was refused entry into Israel on August 11 and has been detained since then at Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport. Her lawyer pledged to appeal today’s expulsion order to the Supreme Court.
Israeli authorities claimed that Jasiewicz is an activist with the International Solidarity Movement, a Palestinian-led group that leads protests in the West Bank and Gaza.
The 26-year-old freelance journalist writes for a left-wing monthly and has worked with the group in the past.
ISM activists have sometimes disrupted Israeli military operations by placing themselves between soldiers and Palestinians. Israel has recently detained a number of its activists as they tried to enter the country.
In her expulsion order today, Tel Aviv District Court judge Drora Pilpel said that although Jasiewicz did not pose a direct threat to Israeli security, Palestinians could manipulate her “naiveté”.
Israeli authorities have paid extra attention to the ISM since an April 2003 suicide bombing in Tel Aviv that killed three people. The attackers had briefly visited ISM activists in Gaza before the attack, although the group denied any involvement in the bombing.
In an earlier decision, the district court last week had said Jasiewicz could enter Israel, but could not travel to the West Bank. The Supreme Court ordered the lower court to reconsider its decision.
Jasiewicz’s lawyer, Yael Berda, called the decision ”a total blow to the freedom of speech and freedom of the press”.
The court granted a 48-hour injunction on the expulsion, allowing Berda to appeal the expulsion to the Supreme Court.
